Flash flood warning from Charleston to Huntington, thousands without power

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A flash flood warning was issued for Kanawha County until 10 p.m., and thousands were without power because of heavy storms.

A similar situation was occuring in the Huntington area, where there was a flash flood warning until 10:30 p.m.

All lanes of Interstate 64 were closed at about 8:30 p.m. between Institute and Cross Lanes when wind from the storm down a high tension power line. There was no immediate word when the interstate would reopen.

According to a statement from Kanawha Emergency Management, “Drivers are being diverted off of the Nitro exit eastbound and off the Dunbar exit westbound. Alternate routes should be used at this time for this area. You are encouraged to avoid this area for the next several hours, if you cannot avoid the area, expect delays.”

Kanawha officials said they were monitoring the other impacts of the storm.

“We are receiving reports of several trees and electric lines down,” Kanawha County officials stated in a news release distributed about 8 p.m. “Do not try to remove lines or trees touching lines as they may be ‘live/hot’ lines and can cause injury.”

They said about 8,000 residents were without power.

American Electric Power’s tally about 8 p.m. was about the same, 7,670.

The power company said 5,271 were without power in the Huntington area.

Brad McElhinny

Brad McElhinny is the statewide correspondent for MetroNews. Brad is a Parkersburg native who spent more than 20 years at the Charleston Daily Mail.Contact him at brad.mcelhinny@wvmetronews.com or on Twitter @BradMcElhinny